Kate nurse fell for hoax

GORDON RAYNER AND STEVEN SWINFORD

Mediapersons outside the King Edward VII Hospital in London. (Reuters)

Dec. 5: The hospital where Kate is being treated for severe pregnancy sickness has admitted that one of its nurses gave out confidential details of her treatment after falling victim to a hoax call from an Australian radio station.

Two presenters from 2Day FM called the King Edward VII Hospital in London pretending to be the Queen and the Prince of Wales, and were put straight through to Kate’s ward early yesterday.

Neither the receptionist who put the call through nor the nurse treating Kate suspected anything was amiss, despite the distinctly amateur impersonations of the Queen and prince’s voices. One of the presenters even barked, pretending to be a corgi, while the “Queen” wrongly referred to Kate as “my granddaughter”.

The nurse looking after Kate gave confidential details of her treatment and of her condition, and even talked about what time it would be convenient for the “Queen” to visit.

A spokesman for the hospital said: “This call was transferred through to a ward and a short conversation was held with one of the nursing staff. King Edward VII’s Hospital deeply regrets this incident.”

The hospital’s chief executive, John Lofthouse, said: “This was a foolish prank call that we all deplore. We take patient confidentiality extremely seriously and we are now reviewing our telephone protocols.” The radio station has since apologised.

Mel Greig, one of the two presenters of the Summer 30 show, who pretended to be the Queen, spent around two minutes talking to the nurse.

She began by saying: “Kate my darling, are you there?” The nurse replied: “Good morning ma’am, this is a nurse speaking. How may I help you?”

The “Queen” said: “Hello, I’m just after my granddaughter Kate, I wanted to see how her little tummy bug is going.”

After the nurse gave her some details, she said: “OK, I’ll just feed my little corgis then,” followed by barking from co-presenter Michael Christian.

She asked when a good time would be to visit, and the nurse replied: “I would suggest that any time after nine ’clock would be suitable.”